CMC offers nation's 3rd-most affordable bachelor's degree

"New lists rank the college among four-year institutions Colorado Mountain College was just named the nation’s third-most-affordable college for obtaining." according to Colorado Mountain College and Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

Colorado Mountain College was just named the nation’s third-most-affordable college for obtaining a bachelor’s degree, in a report from the U.S. Department of Education. It is the only institution in Colorado listed among the country’s most affordable four-year institutions.

“We have always known that Colorado Mountain College presents an extraordinary value, so being recognized as offering the third-most-affordable bachelor’s degree in the country confirms that students at CMC are financially smart and receive a terrific advantage compared to their peers,” said Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of the college, which boasts seven campuses and 11 learning locations spread across the central Rocky Mountains. “With national student debt reaching $1.3 trillion and more jobs requiring a post-secondary degree or certificate, students and families are acutely aware of the importance of an affordable, high-quality education.”

On July 1 the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education College Affordability and Transparency released its annual list comparing the affordability of public and private colleges and universities, sorted by whether institutions grant four-year, two-year or less than two-year awards and degrees.

Based on 2013-14 tuition levels, CMC ranked third in the United States for lowest tuition among public four-year institutions, behind Dine College and Haskell Indian Nations University. The institutions ranked first and second are both tribal colleges. According to the Department of Education list, Colorado Mountain College is the most affordable general (nonspecialized) public four-year institution in the nation...

For the 2015-16 academic year, the college’s elected board of trustees voted for no increase in associate-level tuition for in-district students, and no increase in bachelor’s-level tuition for all students. At the time of that vote, in January, the trustees indicated strong support for freezing bachelor’s-level tuition while gradually raising associate-level tuition, in order to grow into uniform, simple tuition rates across all levels of instruction.

To see the complete listings from the U.S. Department of Education, go to http://collegecost.ed.gov/.

Colorado Mountain College is located in Steamboat Springs, Rifle, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Glenwood Springs-Spring Valley, Aspen, Edwards, Dillon, Breckenridge, Leadville and Buena Vista. Of these locations, the three campuses in Spring Valley, Leadville and Steamboat Springs are residential. The college’s Central Services administrative offices, which serve all other locations, are located in downtown Glenwood Springs. 

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Source: Glenwood Springs Post Independent

3 ways the cloud can help the UK university clearing process by Andrew Turton

Take a closer look at this contributed piece by Andrew Turton, Corporate Accounts Director at Elitetele.com.
 

Photo: IDG Connect

Every year universities throughout the UK face the same colossal challenge. Each one has to temporarily enhance their communication infrastructure overnight to cope with the increased demands of students contacting them to confirm course places or go through clearing.
 
With 2015 set to be the first year universities have no cap on the number of students they can recruit, as well as the government’s prediction that student numbers will rise by 60,000, many establishments will be wondering how they can possibly cope with the increased demand – and vitally how much it will cost.
 
In most cases, universities purchase additional telephone lines each year which result in expensive overheads. It can also be challenging to reverse the changes made to fixed telephone lines, and in some cases, universities just keep lines in place all year round – continuing to pay for infrastructure that is only used for three days. This can be avoided because there are solutions available that would allow universities to only pay for the services they need for the time period they need it.
 
There are a wealth of opportunities and savings available to universities who embrace cloud based solutions which rely on no onsite infrastructure, can assist in handling large call volumes and importantly save costs.
 
Lancaster University for example implemented a scalable call queuing solution in 2014 which enabled them to handle 100,000 calls over a three day period.
 
My advice to universities looking to address this issue is as follows:
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Source: IDG Connect

Inside the academy, time to ask some difficult questions

Photo: Glenn Altschuler

Glenn Altschuler, Cornell University reports, "An academic asks: whom should we teach? What should we teach? How should we teach?"
 

What should be the aim of higher education?
Photo: UBC Library Communications

These days, public discussion of colleges and universities in the United States – and there is a lot of it – is almost exclusively concerned with rising costs, the job prospects of graduates, the contributions of colleges and universities to economic growth, and funding by the states and the federal government.

Although this attention devoted to the economics of higher education is understandable, it has crowded out a discussion of equally fundamental, and perhaps even more fundamental, issues.

At or near the top of this list, I would argue, are: whom should we teach? What should we teach? How should we teach?

The observations (and assertions) that follow are meant to stimulate a conversation about these questions among professors, administrators and students inside the academy – and citizens who are (or should be) interested in the role of colleges and universities as engines of equal opportunity, empowerment and social progress.

Who gets access? 
Let’s consider the first question: whom should we teach? 

Colleges and universities, especially elite institutions, can and should do a lot more to enroll academically talented students from lower- and middle-class families. A study completed in 2003 by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education found that 36% of all highly-qualified high school seniors (with excellent grade point averages and combined SAT scores over 1200) come from the top 20% of families as measured by income. Fifty-seven percent of undergraduates at selective colleges and universities, however, come from this group.

Wealthy American families, then, are overrepresented on these campuses by 21%.

Financial aid, provided on the basis of need, is of course essential to addressing this imbalance. But so is outreach to underrepresented students and their families, many of whom do not know much about financial aid, in the form of loans and grants, for which they might be eligible.

As is evident in the above details, greater access to higher education will benefit not only the individuals who matriculate but American society as a whole.
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Source: The Conversation US

Philosophy discussions for ten year olds can boost their reading and maths

"Encouraging primary school pupils to have philosophical discussions can boost their maths and reading results, according to new research conducted by Durham University."

Photo: Durham University

The study shows that children as young as nine and ten, who are encouraged to have philosophical discussions around topics such as truth, fairness and knowledge, can improve their progress in maths and reading by an average of two extra months with disadvantaged pupils making even bigger strides.

The research, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), looked at the effectiveness of an inquiry-based learning approach, called Philosophy for Children (P4C), which is used by 3,000 teachers in the UK. 

Disadvantaged pupils taking part in the intervention saw their reading skills improve by an additional four months, their maths results by three months and their writing ability by two months, compared to a control group not doing the philosophy sessions. Feedback from the teachers in the trial suggests that the Philosophy for Children approach had a beneficial impact on wider outcomes such as confidence, patience and self-esteem too.

At less than £30 per pupil, the researchers suggest that Philosophy for Children could be a promising and effective way to spend their pupil premium to improve outcomes, and close the poverty gap in attainment.

Lead researcher Stephen Gorard, Professor in the School of Education, at Durham University, said: “Our results suggest that these philosophy sessions can have a positive impact on pupils’ maths, reading and perhaps their writing skills. But crucially, they seem to work especially well for the children who are most disadvantaged. This is very encouraging as we, along with the EEF, are committed to helping tackle educational disadvantage.

“Evidence like this is extremely important in identifying what works and what doesn’t and to help headteachers decide how to spend their pupil premium funding for most benefit to their pupils.”
The team at Durham University worked with the charity Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education (SAPERE) to carry out a randomised controlled trial involving 3,159 pupils across 48 schools in the UK.
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Related link
Read the study here.

Source: Durham University News

High school students find their MathROOTS at MIT

Photo: Bendta Schroeder

Bendta Schroeder, School of Science writes, "Program aims to inspire female and underrepresented minority students to pursue STEM fields."

Tara Falt of Anaheim, Calif., with her math solution. 
Photo: Allegra Boverman

In a noisy MIT classroom last week, high school students eagerly speculated on the problems they might see in the team math competition they were about to begin. The MIT students serving as the competition’s judges passed out problem sets, shouting pleas for order above the din.

Out of the chaos, teams formed, and Tara Falt, a rising high school junior from Anaheim, California, was soon at the blackboard solving a problem.

Now the only sounds in the room were Falt’s voice, explaining every move in her solution, and the click of her chalk moving across the board. She had everyone’s rapt attention.

When she put the chalk down, both teams erupted into cheers. The judges awarded her full points.
The final session of the MIT MathROOTS program was off to a strong start.

Encouragement in STEM
Launched this year by MIT’s Program for Research in Mathematics, Engineering and Science (PRIMES) — an afterschool program for high school students — MathROOTS invited advanced high school students from underserved communities to develop their math skills at MIT. A total of 20 students spent 11 days — ending last Thursday — at the Institute, learning to solve Math Olympiad-style problems, as well as being introduced to special topics in mathematics.

MathROOTS was designed to encourage highly talented minority and female students to persist in their passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields through college and beyond; to give them a sense of belonging; and to expose them to the kinds of advanced math that will keep them inspired.

“I’m proud that MIT has introduced this wonderful program,” says Michael Sipser, the Barton L. Weller Professor of Mathematics and dean of MIT’s School of Science, which provided funding for this summer’s program. “MathROOTS offers the real possibility of changing the lives of its participants, and through them, their communities. I hope that it will become a permanent offering for future extremely talented students, such as the ones we had the privilege of hosting this year.”
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Source: MIT News 

What can I do this summer to be ready to start a PhD program in the fall? by Ricardo Cortez

Photo: Ricardo Cortez

"Congratulations to those students who have been accepted to a PhD program in the mathematical sciences starting in the fall!" according to Ricardo Cortez, Pendergraft William Larkin Duren Professor, Mathematics Department, Tulane University, and the founder of the e-Mentoring Network in the Mathematical Sciences. 

Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You are about to start an unforgettable part of your life. What you will soon realize is that the first year of graduate school is a time of important transitions in the way you study, the way you think about mathematics, the way you think about yourself and the way you think of your professors. Below I offer some suggestions of what you can do this summer in order to be better prepared for the transition to grad school.

Review what you learned in your Real Analysis course: Regardless of the area of mathematics you end up choosing for your dissertation, Real Analysis will play a key role. This is why the great majority of PhD programs will require that you pass an Analysis exam. Don’t just rely on the fact that you took an Analysis course as an undergrad. Review this material during the summer before you take a graduate Analysis course.

Understand the requirements of your program: Most PhD programs have requirements that include written exams (Qualifying exams or Preliminary exams), an oral exam, a specific number of course credits, and a dissertation. Your program has a list of such requirements and the times by when they must be satisfied. For example, the written exams must be passed typically during your second year, sometimes sooner. Make sure you know exactly the requirements of your program and when each must be satisfied. Verify your understanding with the graduate coordinator or chair of the department...

The most significant transition that you will make in graduate school is to go from being the student who is good at solving problems you are asked to solve to becoming the researcher who understands what the next problem that needs to be solved is. This requires understanding the bigger picture of where the problems fit. It helps to get comfortable talking to your professors about math. As a professor I am constantly looking for graduate students that are making this transition.
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Source: AMS Blogs

New Book - Well Played: Building Mathematical Thinking Through Number Games and Puzzles, Grades 3-5

Education Week reports, "Now Online: Well Played gives you 25 field-tested math games and puzzles that go beyond computational fluency to engage students in grades 3-5 with key mathematical concepts. Step-by-step directions, materials, and reproducibles help you implement each game or puzzle, and examples illustrate how they play out in the classroom."

Well Played 
Students love math games and puzzles, but how much are they really learning from the experience? Too often, math games are thought of as just a fun activity or enrichment opportunity. Well Played shows you how to make games and puzzles an integral learning component that provides teachers with unique access to student thinking.

The twenty-five games and puzzles in Well Played, which have all been field-tested in diverse classrooms, contain:

• explanations of the mathematical importance of each game or puzzle and how it supports student learning;
• variations for each game or puzzle to address a range of learning levels and styles;
• clear step-by-step directions; and
• classroom vignettes that model how best to introduce the featured game or puzzle.

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Table of Contents 

Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Supporting Learning Through Games and Puzzles
Chapter 3: Base Ten Numeration  
Chapter 4: Addition and Subtraction
Chapter 5: Multiplication and Division
Chapter 6: Mixed Operations
Chapter 7: Fractions
Appendix
Puzzle Answer Key
References

Preview the entire book online (PDF)

About the Authors  
Linda Dacey, professor of mathematics and education at Lesley University, began her career teaching at the elementary level and early in her career, received an NSF grant to develop a model program for preparing middle school teachers. 
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Karen Gartland is a mathematics coordinator and classroom teacher at Groton-Dunstable Middle School.
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Jayne Bamford Lynch is a district math instructional coach in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she spends most of her days in elementary classrooms supporting coaches, teachers, and students.
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Source: EdWeek Update and Stenhouse Publishers 

Current news from eSchool News

Follow on Twitter as @stephenoonoo

Stephen Noonoo, current editor of eSchool News summarizes, "In an effort to discover just how much wired and wireless connectivity exists in classrooms across the nation, CDW-G has created a new crowdsourced heat map that shows exactly that. Find out how your state stacks up and add your school's information -- the project is still open to educators adding new data."

How connected are your state’s classrooms? Check out this map.

Photo: eSchool News

As efforts to increase bandwidth and internet connectivity in K-12 schools grow, a new report from CDW-G, based on a survey of 400 K-12 IT professionals, reveals just now connected — or not — the nation’s classrooms are today.

The CDW-G K-12 Connected Heat Map outlines wired and wireless connectivity in a state-by-state display. The map is an ongoing project and CDW-G is asking schools to fill in their details to help make it more complete. Currently, there is not enough data to shade several states in the midwest and west.
 
Data from the Federal Communications Commission reveals that the federal E-Rate program has connected nearly all U.S. K-12 schools to the internet, though not all classrooms are connected.

And while statistics may show that the average school has roughly the same connectivity as the average U.S. school, it serves 100 times as many users.
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Additional news from eSchool News 

Follow these 10 one-to-one classroom tips for every educator.

Wherever you are on the one-to-one spectrum we have some advice to help you move forward and make the most out of these new resources in your classroom.
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Read the full report online (PDF)

A new paper by advocacy and policy org iNacol explores how blended learning is being used in practice and traces its history from 2008 to today. In particular, it takes a close look at the four major blended models and, through case studies, how specific schools have fared in implementing them.

According to iNacol, the paper also delves into the evolution of blended learning, the use of digital content and curricula, and the engagement of students toward higher levels of academic success. The case studies profiled illustrate a variety of blended learning implementations, providing insights for increasing program effectiveness.
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Source: eSchool News

Lecturers’ skills not up to scratch, says Eton head

Follow on Twitter as @CHavergalTHE

Chris Havergal writes, "Tony Little points to ‘increasing gap’ between teaching standards at sixth form and university."

Little voice: outgoing head spoke of a ‘gulf’ between schools and universities. 
Photo: Times Higher Education

The outgoing headmaster of one of the UK’s most prestigious private schools has lamented university teaching standards, suggesting that lecturers would benefit from spending time in the secondary classroom.

Tony Little, who steps down from Eton College this summer after 13 years, told Times Higher Education that there was a “gulf” between the experience of students in the final years of school and the first year of university “that should be bridged and we have failed to do it”.

“I have students coming back saying that, in some cases, the quality of teaching in the sixth form was better than anything at university,” Mr Little said. “It is not right.”

The gap in teaching standards between sixth forms – in both the state and independent sectors – and university was increasing, Mr Little suggested, because of the “huge emphasis” on pedagogy at school level in recent years.

Moves to make A-level exams “more accessible” by reducing the essay-based content had also widened the divide between secondary and higher education, Mr Little said, since this remained a primary method of assessment at university.

He acknowledged that some institutions, such as the University of Reading and Brunel University London, had already invested heavily in first-year teaching standards.

But he argued that there was a long way to go across the sector as a whole. “There is some outstanding stuff going on with the younger generation of teachers and I don’t see this replicated in any way at university level,” Mr Little said.

The intervention came after Jo Johnson, the universities minister, identified higher education teaching standards as his foremost priority. Plans for a teaching excellence framework will be announced later this year.

Mr Little, a graduate of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, suggested that giving teaching greater recognition would help to drive up standards. “The business of developing a career within a university is predicated on your ability to produce good research,” he said...

An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education

 

Mr Little was speaking ahead of the publication next week of his book, An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (16 July 2015).
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Source: Times Higher Education

Your Complete CRM Handbook

Everything You Need to Know to Get Started with Your CRM. A growing business needs a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application.

Download Your Complete CRM Handbook (PDF)

Is it time to invest in a CRM?
The contents of this ebook will help you determine that. Over the next four chapters, we will examine the following topics:

• Signs your business needs a CRM 
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With a CRM application, there's no secret formula. It simply manages most of your critical customer information so that you can see it all in one place. Without leaving the app, you can view contact info, follow up via email or social media, manage tasks, and track your performance, among other benefits. Implementing the right CRM can increase sales efficiency. You can close more deals, boost sales, and improve forecast accuracy.
Download Your Complete CRM Handbook (PDF)

Source: ITwhitepapers